Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody that targets CD20, a B‐lymphocyte antigen; that leads to a decline in the B‐cell counts for at least a year. The patients who have received rituximab treatment in the previous 5 years with the diagnosis of pemphigus group of diseases at Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty were questioned for COVID‐19 infection. A total of 48 patients were included in this study; only one male patient had COVID‐19 infection which had a mild course. There is no significant difference in the total number of lymphocytes between patients who have received rituximab within the previous 5 years or last year. The number of lymphocytes is independent of the number of courses of rituximab treatment received. Therefore, we suggest that all pemphigus patients who have received rituximab treatment within the previous 5 years should be careful of the preventive measures against the COVID‐19 infection irrespective of the number of treatment courses or the number of years which has passed since the treatment. The disease course was mild in the only infected patient. Thus, rituximab may be used in the treatment of pemphigus vulgaris during the COVID‐19 pandemic if its use is necessary.
Metabolic syndrome, a commonly observed pathology and a global health issue, is closely related to the skin and thus dermatologists. The skin contributes to the development of metabolic syndrome and it is an end organ for it. Metabolic dysfunction is related to many skin disorders, some of which with high association and some of which with lower association. The diseases of highest association will be discussed in this article. These diseases are acne vulgaris, acanthosis nigricans, hidradenitis suppurativa, and psoriasis vulgaris.
Tofacitinib is a Janus Kinase 3 inhibitor that is used in the treatment of alopecia areata. We recommended our alopecia areata patients to discontinue their tofacitinib treatment during the COVID‐19 pandemic for an average of 80 days. We aimed to evaluate the drug use and the SARS‐CoV‐2 infection status of alopecia areata patients; and the relationships of recurrence to age, gender, treatment duration, and tofacitinib discontinuation. One‐hundred and ninety‐one (61.4%) patients were off the drug and 120 (38.6%) were on therapy during the pandemic. The relationship between drug discontinuation due to the COVID‐19 pandemic and recurrence was statistically significant (
P
< .001). Statistically significant relationships of age (
P
= .013) and treatment duration (
P
< .001) to recurrence were also found. The change in the SALT score differed between the patients on therapy and off therapy during the pandemic (
P
< .001). A significant negative correlation was found between the change in the SALT score and treatment duration: the spearman correlation test
P
= .018. We concluded that the patients may continue to the tofacitinib therapy during the rest of the COVID‐19 pandemic if the benefit outweighed the risk.
Rosacea is a common skin disease that is troublesome for both the patients and the dermatologists. Erythema, telengiectasia, papulopustular changes and phymatous changes are the main problems faced by the patients and dermatologists in everyday practice. Due to the chronic and relapsing nature of the disease, patients are usually unsatisfied with conventional treatment methods. This article aims at redefining rosacea according to the 2017 consensus and reviewing the different treatment modalities for different manifestations of the disease in depth.
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